Water cycle



March 6, 1951 F. SHELVERTON WATER CYCLE 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Dec. 10,1948 1N1 'EN TOR.

FRED SHEILVEHTDN AifUE/VEY March 6, 195] F. SHELVERTON WATER CYCLE 3Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 10, 1948 INVENTOR.

m a em WA mm Y B M r 6, 1951 F. SHELVERTON Q 2,544,240

WATER CYCLE Filed Dec. 0, 348

3 Sheets-Sheet .5

INVENTOR. FRED SHEELVEIRTDN gar;

arifaimusement device for pathers a b Q mi qfp qa' e rc s jin h Qn n.'further, a device which'is feasible fofn e as a drum? for free rotationabo ita hoirizfontal' axis trans- Patented Mar. 6, 1951 .EumtrE-D T E-s1 ,f i su e t 9 vthi *inreili c i FFW an ns'eful self-propulsionwatercrait ice stit not only offering "amusement, "'but also for stength in the arm 1 a wis n sc and'oth'erwise afiording an'exceptionaltrani ertaiipn iv h c e -fQr travelling idve i'th wat a .n in e es ingan i em iims s u flEis'sentiaily, the new device comprises a hullversefto the direction of;1ength of :the pontoo'n's, journalling meansfor the wheel axis, supports upstanding from the tops of thepontoqr'isior axles or shafts concentric with said axisj'a se-"ries'ofpaddles carried by the cage and spaced circnmferentially thereOfat'itsannLiIar Zone of greatest diameter and extending parallel "to'said axis, and a plurality ofhand-and-foot-holdfriings also carried'by'fthe' cage and spaced circumfe'ren'tially thereofand extendingparalleliwith said axis but disposed inwardly of the inner limits of thewidths of the paddles. With the axis of rotation for the cageproperiyplaced relative to the depth of submeigence of mete-atoms, thelowermost bacic'ubr paddle "s dip into'the water; so that, after a lbather has entered the cage, he may, by 'use of said rungs, advance handover hand and f oo't over foot, from one to another collection of therungs at the part of the cage adjacent to the stern of the watercraft,as though climbing; "t ereby to rotate the cage' in a direction 'to"caiis'e the paddle equipment" to"prope 1 thewater-cra it.-

Afurther object 'of the 'pre'sent inv poses the provision of nov'eT'n'eans'iiositione" '0 them ma be cperated'wnn the c aft s in mg)- i Itis a further object of this invention to prome a w t cra wmchifs'smme nds l and wh c t b a ufa ture ant s ld l a reas name cost. For furthercomprehension of the inventien,

and of the objectsand advantages thereoff'refer- In the accompanying"drawi gs forming. a ,materiai'part o'f'thisdis'closure. "Fig; I is'a'side 'elevational view of the watercraft constructed i'n accordance'withthe present 5 invention and having "a"portionof the water wheelbroken away. Fig.2 'isa pian'view of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is anenlarged partial vertical sectional view taken on the line 33 "of Fig 2.

ig.'" 4"i's an enlarged partial vertical sectional view taken'bnthe line4 40f Figiz; 1g. 15' is a porti'j'n ofLFigDB; but showing adiiferentposition' of the'harts. Fig'fffi is'an en1arged"'sect"na1 viewtaken on 15 the line 6 OfFi'g/B." Fig. '7 is an enlarged partialverticalsectional View taken on the line 1: 1 of igili FigI8 is'a peispecifiivvi of ne of the Sup-=- taken en the line |0- m dirigxz. i The"watercraft, according to ';the present inthe relative dimensions "sh wn,aridvvith' lateral- 1y" rounded 'hi'iil bott and flaired'tat stern asillii'strated.

suitably secu'red to the deck of each pontoon 30 l l!,"desirab1y at'apoint about one' 'third of'th'e way"back "from its' bovv about at thepintof "znaxiiniiin depth and'vvidth'ofthe' pontoon'jthere is a standardI l 'ef inverted-v'tvpe and incliidin}; stats top a hubipertion i2. 35E'achhub I? has a pair 'ofspaced flanges i3 afid eachstandard [I furtherincludes'fo ubstantiallywertical legs l4. """lh'etopenqs legs M aresecnred to the outer faces of the flanges i3 by'nie ans of long beltslfiwhich pass 6 1 r Q 1j hfb h thl' to i Oif i iefles land the flangesIBQThe bottom ends 'o fthe legs are secured to the decks of the pontoonsnew k 'lei ma in The l ss" 1. ar s ged that they support the hnbs I? inhoria p ux l o k6 r i u iformsa l im mfer z i a lyOfthe cas 6 "a th utePer- 1. 1 5 o the rim" mefmbersjli nd J8; a plurality of like rungs 2i},lgewise unif grrrily spaced gircnmfejrentially' Offfihe cage [5 5.5 b te inner perti ns of the rim membe s sans the its "ri niemb w th 8-willibe nnderstgod, any of the parts of the device may be ade-bf anydesiredfinafieriai or internment w th he in men; n and l-fi shown isalso self-complete.

wooden rounds or dowels and, desirably, about one inch in diameter. Asthe cage I6 is herein illustrated, it is of a size such that the innerdiameter of the rim members I! and I8 is about six feet, and the outerdiameter thereof is about seven feet four inches. Such a cage willcomfortably accommodate a man bather well over six feet tall asindicated by the dot and dash line 2| in Fig. 1.

The cage I6, and its journalling means to be described in a moment, maybe constructed in any suitable way; but as the cage is herein shown itis self-complete and readily mountable on its axle or the like; whichlatter as herein According to this arrangement, the cage furtherincludes at each side a suitable plurality of outwardly extended spokes22 formed of tubular pipe stock. At each side of the cage [6, the spokes22 are suitably connected to collars 23 and an annular hub 24 by bolts25. The outer ends of the spokes 22 are secured to the outer faces ofthe rim member I! and It by bolts 26, see Fig. 9. With the cage I6 ofthe size already mentioned, there is approximately a twenty-eight inchspace between each pair of adjoining spokes 22 adjacent to the rimmembers H and t8, which .is ample to afford easy ingress and egress forthe bather 2| relative to the interior of the cage at any point.

The hubs 24 of the cage I6 are rotatively supported on short tubularshafts 2? which in turn are fixedly mounted in the hubs E2 of thestandards H. The tubular shafts 27 are retained in position by smallpins 28, see Figs. 3 and 4, which pass through the hubs l2 and into theshafts 21. The hubs 24 of the cage l are rotative on the shafts 2?.between the inner ends of the hubs l2 of the standards I and collars 29fixedly mounted on the inner ends of the shafts 2?. Complementarycollars 35 are mounted on the opposite ends of the shafts 21 adjacentthe outer faces of the outer flanges i3 of the hubs l2. Thus, as thebather 2| walks over the rungs of the cage IS, the cage will rotateabout the shafts 2'! and the paddles i9 will successively dip into andout of the water and propel the watercraft in a forward direction. FromFig. 1,

wherein the dot and dash line 3| designates the normal waterline, itwill be noted that the paddles I9 at the bottom of the cage I6 extendinto the water.

For maintaining the two pontoons ii} in the spacing, parallelism andtransverse alignment illustrated, any suitable bracing and staying meansmay be employed.

The bracing means comprises a plurality of longitudinally spacedlaterally extending braces 32 and a pair of cross braces 33 extendedbetween the pair of braces 32 at the front ends of the pontoons l0.Brackets 34 are provided on opposite sides of the pontoons H! forconnecting the ends of the braces 32 and the cross braces 33 to thepontoons. Details of one of the brackets 34 are shown in Figs. 7 and 8of the drawings. Each bracket 34 includes a pair of spaced plates 35attache-d to the inside faces of the side walls I5 of the pontoons ID,by means of bolts 36. The top ends of the plates project from the top ofthe pontoons l5 and U-shaped members 31 are secured in position betweenthe top ends of the plates 35 by means of bolts 38. The braces 32 and/orcross braces 33 extend through the U-shaped members 3'! and are clampedin position within the U-sh'aped members 31 by bolts 4 39. The bolts 39pass through and draw together the top ends of the arms of the U-shapedmembers 31 to securely clamp the braces 32 and/or cross braces 33 inposition.

The crossed centers of the cross braces 33 are connected together bymeans of plates 40 disposed above and below the crossing points of thecross braces 33 and four rivets 4| located one in each of the junctionsof the cross braces 33, see Figs. 2 and 10.

Means is provided to permit the bather 2| to steer the watercraft fromthe interior of the cage, Hi. This means comprises a shaft 42 rotativelyextended through the tubular shaft 2? which rotatively supports the rimmember ll" of the cage I6. The inner end of the shaft 42 projects intothe side of the cage i6 and is provided with a handle member 43. Thehandle member 43 includes an arm 44 fixed to the inner end of the shaft42 by means of a pin 45, see Fig. 3, so that the arm extends radiallyfrom the shaft 42.

The free end of the arm 44 has pivotally attached thereto, by means of apin 45, a hand-grip 41. The end of the hand-grip is cut down to fit intoa slot 48, see Fig. 6, cut into the free end of the arm 44. A leafspring 49 is secured to one side of the arm 44 by means of severalrivets 58 and engages the sides of the arm 44 and the hand-grip 4?. Theleaf spring 49 functions to hold the hand-grip 4! in the longitudinalaligned position with the arm 44, as shown in Fig. 3, in which thehand-grip 41 is out of the way or to hold the hand-grip 47 in a positionextended at right angles from the arm 44, as shown in Fig. 5, in whichthe hand-grip is in its operative position to be used for manuallyturning the shaft 42.

The outer end of the shaft 42 projects from the tubular shaft 21 andinto the side of a hollow casing 5| secured to the side of therespective standard II- by means of the bolts l5. At that side of thecage IS, the bolts l5 are long enough to secure the casing 5| inposition, in addition to securing the top ends of the legs M to theflanges l3 of the respective hub l2. Within the casing 5|, the shaft 42is provided with a bevel gear 52 which meshes with a suitable smallerbevel gear 53 fixedly attached to the top end of a shaft 54. The shaft54 is vertically rotatively extended through the bottom wall of thecasing 5| and is rotatively supported intermediate of its ends in abracket 55, see Fig. 1, mounted on the adjacent legs |4.

The top of the casing 5| is open. The open top is closed by a removablecover 56 which provides access to the bevel gears 52 and 53 forlubricating and the like. The cover 55 is retained in position by fourscrews 57.

Pivotally secured to the rear end of each of the pontoons l0, there is arudder 58. Each rudder 58 is formed with cutouts 59 which extend aboutlugs 69 which project from the rear ends ofthe pontoons 40. Verticalrods 6| project through the interengaged lugs 60 and the portions of therudders 58 pivotally supporting the rudders 58 on the lugs 60. One ofthe rods 6| projects from the top of its respective rudder 58 and isprovided at its'top end with a sprocket wheel 62. That paddle 58 ispinned to its rod 6|, by a pin 63, see Fig. 1, so that the paddle 58will be turned in one direction or the other as the sprocket wheel 62 isturned in one direction or the other.

wheel 65 mounted on the bottom end of the shaft 54 which carries thebevel gear 53. Thus, as the shaft 42 is turned in one direction or theother by the handle member 13, the shaft 5 3 will be similarly turnedthrough the medium of the bevel gears 52 and 53 to turn the sprocketwheel 62 in one direction or the other and similarly turn the rudder 58which carries the sprocket wheel 62.

Means is provided for connecting the rudders 58 together for movement inunison, when the rudder 58 carrying the sprocket wheel 62 is moved inone direction or the other. This means comprises a bar 65 equal inlength to the distance between the adjacent faces of the rudders 58which has its ends pivotally attached to the top edges of the rudders58. The ends of the bar 56 are formed with openings through which pins61 from the top edges of the rudders 53 rotatively extend.

If desired, the steering mechanism can be duplicated on both sides ofthe watercraft, elimihating the necessity for the connecting bar 55.

The operation of the new device should be clear from the foregoing. InFig. 1 the bather 2| is shown climbing in the cage it. During suchclimbing, the cage is being rotated in a clockwise direction as seen inFig. 1; so that the pontoons l0 are caused to travel bow-on toward theright. Steering is accomplished by turning the handle member 43 in thedesired direction to cause the rudders 58 to be turned to turn thewatercraft either to the right or the left.

While I have illustrated and described the preferred embodiments of myinvention, it is to be understood that I do not limit myself to theprecise constructions herein disclosed and the right is reserved to allchanges and modifications coming within the scope of the invention asdefined in the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by United States Letters Patent is:

1. In a watercraft having a spaced pair of pontoons between which alarge hollow cage carrying a plurality of paddles is rotativelysupported by means of end aligned hubs at least one of which is tubular,means operative from within the hollow cage for steering the pontoons,comprising a rudder pivotally mounted on the rear end of each of thepontoons, means connecting said rudders together for unitary movement inone direction or the other, a shaft rotatively extended through thetubular hub, a handle member mounted on the inner end of said shaftwithin the hollow cage by which said shaft can be turned in onedirection or the other, and a transmission interposed between the outerend of said shaft and one of said rudders.

2. In a watercraft having a spaced pair of pontoons between which alarge hollow cage carrying a plurality of paddles is rotativelysupported by means of end aligned hubs at least one of which is tubular,means operative from within the hollow cage for steering the pontoons,comprising a rudder pivotally mounted on the rear end of each of thepontoons, means connecting said rudders together for unitary movement inone direction or the other, a shaft rotatransmission interposed betweenthe outer end of said shaft and one of said rudders, said handle membercomprising a radial arm secured at one end to the inner end of saidshaft, and a hand grip pivotally secured to the free end of said radialarm to have an inoperative position in end alignment with said arm or anoperative position extended radially from the free end of said arm.

3. In a watercraft having a spaced pair of pontoons between which alarge hollow cage carrying a plurality of paddles is rotativelysupported by means of end aligned hubs at least one of. which istubular, means operative from within the hollow cage for steering thepontoons, comprising a rudder pivotally mounted on the rear end of eachof the pontoons, means connecting said rudders together for unitarymovement in one direction or the other, a shaft rotatively extendedthrough the tubular hub, a handle member mounted on the inner end ofsaid shaft within the hollow cage by which said shaft can be turned inone direction or the other, and a transmission interposed between theouter end of said shaft and one of said rudders, said handle membercomprising a radial arm secured at one end to the inner end of saidshaft, and a hand grip pivotally secured to the free end of said radialarm to have an inoperative position in end alignment with said arm or anoperative position extended radially from the free end of said arm, anda spring mounted on said arm ,adjacent its free end and engaging thepivoted end of said hand grip for retaining said hand grip in either itsoperative or inoperative position.

4. In a watercraft having a spaced pair of pontoons between which alarge hollow cage carrying a plurality of paddles is rotativelysupported by means of end aligned hubs at least one of which is tubular,means operative from within the hollow cage for steering the pontoons,comprising a rudder pivotally mounted on the rear end of each of thepontoons, means connecting said rudders together for unitary movement inone direction or the other, a shaft rotatively extended through thetubular hub, a handle member mounted on the inner end of said shaftwithin the hollow cage by which said shaft can be turned in onedirection or the other, and a transmission interposed between the outerend of said shaft and one of said rudders, said transmission comprisinga bevel gear mounted on the said outer end of said shaft, averticalshaft rotatively supported adjacent the outer end of the tubular hub, abevel gear mounted on the top end of said vertical shaft and meshed withsaid first bevel gear, a sprocket wheel mounted on the bottom end ofsaid vertical shaft, a sprocket wheel mounted on the said one rudderconcentric with its pivot, and a chain engaged about said sprocketwheels.

FRED SHELVERTON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Name

